NCC development committee

Cleveland Ave. rezoning request delayed again

Realtor Michael A. Moore came before the Northland Community Council's development committee for the second monthly meeting in a row last week, and for the second time, he ended up asking that action on his rezoning request for a vacant parcel at 4873 Cleveland Ave. be delayed.

Committee members consented to tabling the matter for the second time, Chairman Dave Paul said.

Moore appeared at the June 25 committee session on behalf of his client, Everyday People's Ministries, seeking a change in zoning from the current urban residential to one that would permit offices. Moore then said his client has a potential buyer for the 0.675-acre site who wants to relocate his cell phone business there.

When committee members pointed out that residential uses are not permitted in the type of zoning he was requesting, Moore asked that the matter be tabled.

Last week, Moore was back, this time seeking limited commercial rezoning that would allow the potential buyer to put his telecommunications business in a proposed 4,000-square-foot, single-story building on the site.

Moore said the sale was contingent upon his client -- the church -- obtaining the rezoning. The buyer might also, at some future date, wish to operate a restaurant inside the building, he told development committee members.

He added that bars, cabarets, halfway houses and pawnbrokers would be excluded as possible uses under the new C-4 zoning.

William Logan, vice chairman of the NCC development panel, said that without a site plan, he did not see any way a building that size could fit on the lot, particularly with the entrance coming off Edmonton Road, not Cleveland Avenue, and the requirement for setbacks from residential property to the rear of the lot.

"You've got like 10 pounds in a 5-pound sack," Logan said.

Moore admitted he was "new to this," and was simply following the wishes of his client. Actually, he said, it was more like clients since the rezoning would benefit the buyer.

Paul pointed out that the recently updated Northland Plan I identifies offices as the best and preferred use for that section of Cleveland Avenue, and Logan agreed.

"It's not just paper for the sake of paper," Paul said of the Northland Plan I. "It's intended as a map, a guide for how the area is to develop over the next 10 years."

Moments later, Moore suggested reverting to his original rezoning request that would limit the site to office uses, but then reconsidered and suggested delaying consideration once again.

"You'll be the first one double-tabled," Logan said.

"I request that you table it," Moore said. "It's the only logical thing."

Paul and Logan advised Moore to meet with city staff members to fine-tune his request and to come back at the next development committee meeting, set for Aug. 27.